Love Is Alive
by Borkery
Summary: Chara just stood motionless, hand still hovering next to Frisk's face, because they were having another 'y0UR cUTE' moment even though it was all just a gay daydream- a gaydream, if you will. [A collection of charisk drabbles.]
1. Word Gets Out

[A dog slides his first drabble towards you, nervously. Will you read it?]

* * *

**Word Gets Out**

Flowey was the only person who knew about Chara's crush on Frisk. They didn't intentionally tell him; there's no way they'd trust _Flowey _of all people with their deepest, darkest secret. The entire thing was a stupid accident.

Chara had a habit of musing out loud and their brother just so happened to pop in at the least opportune moment, which had backed Chara into a corner. God, what were they supposed to say? _"I meant passionately make out in a platonic way?"_ Flowey would be able to see right through their lies.

Ever since the accidental crush revelation, though, the flower was surprisingly keeping quiet about it. Sure, he'd tease Chara whenever they forgot how to breath because Fris at them, but he never exposed the secret to anyone. Which was unusual for Flowey. He didn't claim spot as the worst cohort when it came to stealing from Mom's chocolate chip jar for no reason. Their traitorous brother had ratted them out so many times that Mom had the kitchen cabinets professionally refurbished with locks. So, the fact that their big-mouthed brother had not told a single soul, not even _Frisk_, about Chara's crush was way too suspicious. _Way _too suspicious.

Chara had to get to the bottom of it.

One afternoon, the undead teen placed their brother's flower pot on the living room desk and turned out the lights. They flipped on their desk lamp, pointing it straight at Flowey's face. His eyes squinted under the harsh shine. Interrogation START!

"Alright, Flowey. Why haven't you told Frisk about my crush, yet? What are you planning here? Blackmail? Extortion?" Chara asked. Flowey's golden petals raised as if they were eyebrows. He patted his stem innocently with one of his leafy arms.

"Golly, Chara! Can't you trust me to keep a precious secret for you?" He chimed angelically. Chara stared pointedly at him. Flowey's 'innocent' charade dropped almost instantaneously as his stem sulked, eyes rolling. "Fine. I get it. I haven't been the most trustworthy when it comes to secrets," he groans, "but I promise I'm not going to tell anyone about your stupid crush. I already swore off on meddling with the romantic lives of other people." This made Chara's brows raise curiously. They leaned forward, silently urging Flowey to continue. He let out a weird bark of laughter. "You don't have to know why, do you?"_ Of course_, they had to know why.

They were locked in a staring competition for a few minutes before Flowey finally caved and looked away. With eyes cast downwards, he muttered vaguely, "there was an _incident_ during one of my previous timelines." Whatever that 'incident' was, Chara could not, for the life of them (or death of them, rather), get him to spill it.

They ended up shrugging the whole conversation off as they went to sit on the couch. They didn't fully believe Flowey wouldn't rat on them, just yet. "Even if you do tell Frisk about it, there's _no way _they'd believe you," they said, somewhat defensively. Flowey just rolled his eyes and smirked.

"Think what you must!" He chirped in a sing-song voice, which had Chara scrambling over the back of the couch in order to look him straight in his beady, floral eyes.

"Was that supposed to _insinuate _something?" They pressed with a wide, intimidating grin. Flowey grinned back mischievously but Chara still caught him shivering, so they backed off a bit. They slid off the couch and made their way back to their previous spot before the desk.

"You're acting as if your crush on them isn't the most obvious thing in the world?" Their brother hummed. Chara went slack-jawed, stunned by the insinuation. It was obvious? No. No way. He had to be fronting. How could it _possibly_ be obvious? _They're _the one who hated humans. (Except Frisk.)

"How is it obvious?" Chara voiced their thoughts, genuinely confused. Flowey blinked thoughtfully, his petals fluttering slightly beneath the air conditioning.

"Do you remember when we invited Asgore over for family dinner?" He asked. Of course they remembered.

It was a special occasion; Mom rarely ever invited Dad over. They spent the entire day helping Mom prepare a feast- even Flowey helped. Asgore had shown up later that night, with big, beautiful bouquets for everyone (Mom's had since made its home in the trash, however.). Although, Chara had noticed some of their own aster mixed into one of the bouquets which made their brows furrow irritably at the time. They raised those flowers themself so it didn't exactly put them in the greatest of moods to see that their Dad had harvested them without their permission. Chara forgave him, though, because the bouquet was for them.

"He wasn't expecting Frisk and their brothers to be there," Chara muttered, recalling Dad's face after his first bite of Papyrus's spaghetti with a small smile tugging on their lips, "but that's just because he doesn't attend our family dinners very often." They looked back at Flowey, eyes narrowing quizzically. "What does this have to do with anything?"

"Asgore pulled me aside later that night and asked me if you and Frisk were dating."

"WHAT?" The teen slapped their hands down on either side of Flowey's pot, digging their fingernails into the wood. Their brother doubled over laughing at their rapidly reddening face. Chara glared at him, cheeks burning. "Is it because Frisk was just _there?_ That doesn't make any sense. Sans and Papyrus were there, too! And we have others over all the time!"

"It was the flower thing," Flowey gasped out between chuckles. Chara went dead silent.

After their pounding heart began to slow, they finally began to mumble in a quiet, faltering voice. "T...That's a normal thing that good close friends do for each other." Their entire face was searing, it probably looked as red as their soul.

Okay. Sure. Back when their Dad had arrived to the family dinner, he wasn't expecting for there to be more than just Mom, Flowey, and themself. So, of course, he had only made three bouquets. So it was _totally normal_ that Chara plucked all of the asters out from their own and wrapped them up into a pseudo-bouquet for Frisk- purely because they didn't want them to feel left out and absolutely **_NOT _**because there was hidden symbolism behind aster flowers.

They did not research that shit.

Wait.

…

Flowey stared curiously as Chara opened their phone and swiped right on the button labeled "clear history."

To repeat, they did not research that shit.

"You also put one of the flowers behind their ear and stared at them…for so long..." Their brother trailed off and Chara could only place their face in their hands and groan loudly. "And then you two sat on the porch alone and stargazed." They groaned again. "You also talk about them. So. Much." Chara warily peeked through their fingers only to see him grinning at them like a bastard.

"Is it really _that _much?"

"Yup-" Flowey paused as he shifted in his pot, leaves brushing against the ceramic sides. "The fact that you thought you could talk fondly about this one person all the time and not expect us to assume that you're gay for them, Chara, is kind of hilarious." Chara threw up their hands in defeat.

"Okay, _fine!_ So maybe my crush _is _obvious. They're just so cute, Flowey, I can't help it."

"Ughhhh." The yellow flower rolled his eyes. With that, Chara picked up his pot and moved back to the couch, because the investigation was pretty much over, and they were already missing all the best cartoons.

"So, you're not going to tell?" Chara asked once more as they settled his pot to their left, snug between their thigh and the arm of the sofa. They stared at the television as Flowey flipped through channel after channel. He finally settled on a relatively new cartoon show. Upbeat music filled the room as Chara's eyes drifted away from the colorful animations.

"I won't meddle," Flowey replied. Chara still found themself silently wondering if he'd keep that promise. Their eyes drifted back to the screen just in time to see a familiar-looking cartoon character appear. It looked like a goth cow, to put it simply, with black, feathered wings and long horns. As it started talking in a stereotypical villainous voice, it finally dawned on Chara why the character was so familiar. This cartoon must've been one of the many pieces of media that had been inspired by Frisk's journey through the Underground. Chara playfully elbowed their brother and pointed at the screen with a snort.

"That's you, God of Hyperdeath!" At the exact same moment, the cartoon character burst into an explosion of rainbows and stars and Chara erupted into laughter. Flowey blinked in shock, before putting his face in his leafy hands. He shook his head, embarrassed.

"I know I said I won't meddle, but you really make me want to, sometimes," the flower muttered into his leaves. Chara didn't hear him.

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[The dog thanks you for reading his drabble. You learn that he wants to improve himself and get into the rhythm of writing because he has some plans for a future fic. He decided the perfect way to do that would be through writing some drabbles. And charisk. This dog seems to like charisk. He hopes you enjoyed the first chapter!]


	2. Before Falling

[It seems like the dog who wrote this would like to wish you a happy autism awareness month!]

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**Before Falling**

Frisk was excited about something. Chara could tell. If it wasn't obvious from the bounce in their step, it was obvious from the big, giddy smile on their face as they flapped their hands.

Their purple sleeves made a satisfying swooshing sound as they entered the kitchen. Chara found themself smiling back when they caught sight of the bright cerulean stitching around the cuff of Frisk's sleeve- ah, that was the sweater that Chara had patched up for them. The same sweater that Frisk wore through the Underground. It was huge on them all those years ago but now it fit the teen snuggly.

Chara leaned on the cool, marble countertops, resting their cheek in the palm of their hand as they listened to the gentle _swish swoosh _of Frisk's arms.

"Whatcha thinking about?" Chara asked, half hoping Frisk would start gushing excitedly about whatever it was that caught their interest. They loved it when they did that. Chara could listen to Frisk for hours. They never felt exhausted in their presence like they did around everyone else. Why? Maybe it was because they shared a soul.

Or maybe there were other reasons.

Gay reasons.

Frisk's mouth parted when they realized someone else was there, and paused to rest their dark blue backpack against the wall, leaving it snug against Chara's bright green one, before they turned back. They stopped flapping in order to sign a reply to Chara- which, in all honesty, Chara wouldn't mind if they continued. It was like expert mode for translating ASL and they happened to love a challenge.

_"I'm thinking about you!" _Frisk explained, bouncing on their feet. The statement made the other teen's heart flutter.

"Why are you thinking about me?" Chara asked, smile growing wider.

_"I want to show you something." _ They were about to ask what that something was but Frisk wasn't finished yet so they shut their mouth. They continued signing, _"It's a surprise! Can we go tomorrow?" _

_Go. _That insinuated that they'd be going somewhere that wasn't theirs or Frisk's house. Chara's foot tapped thoughtfully. The red-eyed teen was already curious as to what their friend could be so excited about, but knowing that it was a _surprise _for _Chara _had their curiosity through the roof. Whatever they had planned for the weekend prior didn't matter anymore.

"That's fine," Chara said. "Are we going to be walking or driving?"

Frisk was too busy digging around in their backpack to reply right away so they made a hum in the back of their throat to let Chara know they had heard them. Chara watched as their friend returned to the kitchen table with their phone clutched in their hands. They pulled out an extra chair as they sat down, and Chara smirked before settling down next to them.

_"Driving. Flowey already agreed to help with directions."_ Chara's brows tilted upwards. So Flowey was in on this, too? They wondered how long this had been planned. It must have been recent, because Flowey was notorious for being unable to keep secrets. Still, the fact that Frisk had gone to such lengths to surprise them with something made Chara's chest feel warm and fuzzy, like drinking hot chocolate. Except there was no beverage, just Frisk.

Frisk was better, in Chara's opinion.

The phone was already in Chara's hands before they could even ask for it. They began transcribing Frisk's list of things they'd need for tomorrow's mystery trip. They also made sure to leave a secret note for them to find later- which Frisk did, while Chara was driving them home, and they actually _cried_ from laughing.

. . .

"Take your next left," Flowey piped up from his spot in Frisk's lap. He was hunched over an almost comically big map. Half of it was spread across the dashboard while the other half was spread across Frisk's thighs, folded to keep the map's contents hidden from Chara's view. How rude- but understandable. Chara _had _risked a peek earlier, after all.

They remember catching a glimpse of the layout of their home city. They weren't in the city anymore, though. The three of them had long since passed any signs of civilization.

Surrounding either sides of the inclining road were vibrant green trees, hills, cliffs, and blazing blue sky. The craggy bluffs loomed over like pillars, dappled in clusters of shrubs and mosses. Chara had their suspicions about where Flowey was guiding them. The ozone-scented air gushing through their slightly ajar windows was ever so familiar. Once they passed a sign that clearly read "MT. EBOTT AHEAD," Chara felt like their suspicions had practically been confirmed.

"Are we going to the Underground?" They asked. Flowey looked up from the map and snickered, probably because he was _milking _the fact that his sibling didn't know where they were going. Chara resisted the urge to stick their tongue out at him.

_"No,"_ Frisk signed quickly. They also signed something else but Chara didn't want to take their eyes off the steep road. Thankfully, their brother was there to help out.

"Frisk said we're almost there," Flowey explained. "Take another left."

The teen made a noise in affirmation as they turned down the road to Mt. Ebott. This road was jet black and insanely smooth unlike the previous bumpy-as-hell road. The car juddered at the sudden switch in terrain.

It was actually a fairly new road- this one, that is. The city had installed it when monsters started doing tours of the Underground. If anything, it made the mountain much more navigable, so Chara was grateful for its existence. And they're also glad the whole "place where people go to disappear" slogan was more of a thing of the past.

As they made their way into Mt. Ebott's also relatively new parking lot, Chara was half expecting Frisk and Flowey to go "surprise, we actually were going to the Underground; we just didn't want to tell you because you guessed it already." They blinked several times in surprise, however, when Flowey pulled out a smaller map from Frisk's navy blue backpack and directed them in the opposite direction- _away _from the Underground's entrance.

Frisk gently took hold of their arm, right above their elbow, as Flowey's directions took the group right to the face of the woods. Chara paused, frowning in confusion as a slippery fern frond brushed against their leg. They shivered at the unwanted texture.

"The woods? Why are we going into the woods?" The irritation in their voice was thicker than Chara intended it to be, but Frisk didn't seem to notice.

_"We have to hike to get to what I want to show you,"_ they signed. That actually explained why they had to pack, like, a million water bottles.

Chara desperately wanted to figure out what was in store for them at the end of the hike, but they couldn't think of anything of interest on Mt. Ebott besides a couple of holes. They shrugged it off, because they knew they'd find out eventually.

"Okay," they said. "Lead the way, partner." Instead, Frisk's hand slid down from their elbow and to their hand. Chara's heart skipped a beat as they intertwined their fingers. A goofy smile spread across the undead teen's face and then they pushed through the foliage and into the forest.

While they plodded through the undergrowth, Chara found their focus becoming split between listening to Flowey's instructions and watching the ground for bumps and sticks; anything that they could pull their friend out of the way of so that they didn't fall or stumble. It reminded them of back when they first met.

Chara remembered how, back in the Underground, Frisk had a habit of tripping over every rock and falling down every hole. The ghost child had gotten so fed up with it at one point that they ended up gripping Frisk's shoulders and just _directed _them. Chara had honestly thought the other kid was just clumsy, at first. It wasn't until later, when they found out the truth, did they allowed Frisk to take their arm. Then, they lead them through the Underground, narrating the surroundings Frisk couldn't see in detail, all while encouraging the both of them to proceed.

Sometimes, Chara still fell into that habit.

"Despite our inevitable fate of becoming lost in the woods, you're filled with determination," they said to Frisk, squeezing their hand playfully. The dark-skinned teen snorted, squeezing their hand in return.

"We're not going to become lost; not when we're following _my _directions," Flowey retorted from the crook of Frisk's other arm. Chara rolled their eyes with a smirk.

"Can you say that so confidently when the map is upside down?"

"It's not-" Their brother's eyes rounded in shock and he hastily flipped the map right-side up. "Okay, NOW it's not upside down. We're not going to get lost."

. . .

They got lost.

Well, they could still get back to the car because they had their GPS, but it wasn't the car they were trying to get to. They were trying to get to whatever Frisk wanted to show them; and whatever this _thing _was, it was proving to be hidden more efficiently than ever.

The three had been bumbling through the woods for what felt like hours, trying to make sense of Flowey's unhelpful directions. Chara was too focused on gulping down the mountainous air than speaking, so they opted to sign into Frisk's hands. After a while, they were too tired to even do that, so the two fell into a tired silence while Flowey got progressively more and more frustrated with the map.

It wasn't the faint sense of direction that bugged Chara, nor their aching legs, nor the fact that they had poured an entire water bottle on their head and instantly regretted it because the feeling of wet clothes _sucked_. The thing that bugged Chara was that they could not shake this haunting sense of familiarity. No matter how much they wracked their brain, they couldn't figure out why this forest was making them feel this way.

Finally, the three teens decided to take a break.

Chara placed Flowey at the base of a rock and then plopped down on it. They poured some of their water into their brother's flowerpot before greedily gulping it down, themself. Their auburn hair was plastered to their face with sweat. They swiped it out of their eyes as they looked back to Frisk, who was wandering around an incline, trailing their hand down the face of a rocky bluff wall.

"I give up!" Flowey suddenly groaned. He crumpled up the map. "We're never going to be able to find it."

Frisk looked back at the other two and frowned. _"That's not true; I'm sure we'll be able to find it,"_ they signed. Their brows furrowed as they went back to touching the stone, as if they'd be able to recognize it. Chara's eyes flickered back to Flowey, who was sulking in his pot.

"You've been saying that for the last hour," Flowey sighed. "Face it, Frisk. It's been three years since you last saw this thing; you probably don't remember where it is."

"Three years?" Chara repeated in shock.

_"Flowey! You weren't supposed to tell!"_ Frisk signed dejectedly, shoulders sagging.

"Whoopsie!" The flower shrugged. Frisk's nose wrinkled.

_"Anyways, I think I recognize where we are,_" they continued, changing the topic.

"You said that before," Flowey grumbled, exhausted. "How much longer are you planning to keep us out here?" The dark-skinned teen looked like they were going to sign something but their hand stuttered to a stop, trembling slightly. They began playing with the hem of their sweater; which Chara knew was a habit of theirs when they were getting overwhelmed. They were _all _getting overwhelmed, Chara realized, with another glance at their brother.

They tapped his pot with the tip of their shoe and threw him a few signs, themself. _"Calm down. You're upsetting them. We'll leave if it's another dead end, okay?"_ His eyes widened, before he nodded slowly. With a shake of his head, he returned to the other conversation.

"Nevermind. Let's try looking one more time," he sighed. They both seemed to settle at that.

Chara scooped the flowerpot up when they stood, and made their way over to Frisk. Once they reached the incline where their friend stood, they were, once again, struck by an odd sense of familiarity.

The slope lead up alongside the face of the bluff. Trees protruded from the top of the cliff, their long, spindly roots twisting out of the chalky, red stone. Frisk's hand gripped Chara's arm as the teen glanced upwards, narrowing their red eyes beneath the sun.

"Want to check out the top of this slope?" Chara suggested. Frisk nodded.

The top was not at all what Chara had been expecting. Instead of leveling out, the bluffs continued higher and higher until they created some sort of crescent-shaped overhang. They ducked into the cool, shaded area. The ground beneath the overhang was starkly different, Chara noticed. It was much more compact than the loose, dusty soil in the woods. As they inspected the ground closer, they could pick out multicolored bricks embedded into the earth here and there. It must've been man-made, Chara suddenly realized.

They illustrated it as such to Frisk, who's mouth parted wide in a silent gasp. They bounced on their feet, rocking both Chara and Flowey along with them.

Of course, Chara knew what that meant.

"Do you recognize this path?" Chara exclaimed. Frisk nodded their head vigorously as Flowey scrambled to unfold the map while being rocked back and forth.

"Okay- FRISK stop shaking me! I'm trying to read! Brick path, brick path, hmm… Here! Okay, follow it for a ways and then turn right," Flowey instructed.

The man-made path disappeared as they made their way back into the thick of the woods. However, it wasn't long before Chara caught sight of another oddity. A glint of silver poking out of the ground hooked their attention. As they drew closer, they realized it was an oddly reflective stone with a symbol carved into it. As soon as they pointed it out, Frisk rushed over to it and dropped to the ground, sliding their hands over the surface. Chara couldn't help but notice, to their own curiosity, that the symbol carved into the rock was very similar to how "Home" was written in the Underground.

A huge, radiant grin spread across Frisk's face and they began to flap. Their hands quivered and shook excitedly as they signed to the others, _"We're so close! Just over this hill!"_ They grabbed Chara's hand, swinging it in theirs, and the two rushed up the incline, Flowey in tow.

And then they made it to the top.

Chara's eyes flew wide open at the sight before them. Their grip on Frisk's hand slackened, mouth falling open in _wonder_. Before them, crumbling cobalt structures stretched out across the bottom of the hill. They were looking at what seemed to be the remains of a small town.

A _monster _town.

It was unmistakable. The architecture, though worn down by time, had the thinnest, faintest layer of monster magic veiled over it. It clung to the area as if it was desperately trying to keep the place from collapsing in on itself.

"Wow," Flowey breathed out. "I didn't know any ruins remained on the surface. Asgore told us that the humans had destroyed them all."

It was true. They had even learned it in school. After the monsters had been sealed underground, the humans then went on to erase any evidence of monsters ever living on the surface. Apparently, they missed one on the very mountain they trapped all the monsters under. It was almost kind of funny- but not really.

Frisk squeezed their hand, causing Chara to realize they were holding their breath. They let it out, glancing over the town, once again. They still didn't understand why it felt so familiar to them, but they tried to ignore it as they glanced back at their friend.

_"This is what I wanted to show you guys!"_ Frisk signed excitedly, stepping forward to strike a pose towards the ruins and all its entirety. It was incredibly cute, but they were gesturing more towards a _tree_ instead of the ruins. Chara took a slight step to the left to fix the angle. Okay. Now it was perfect.

"This is amazing, Frisk," Chara said honestly. "How did you find out about this place?"

Frisk shrugged. _"I lived here for a while,"_ was all they had to sign to make both Chara and Flowey shout "WHAT" in synchronized shock. Frisk stifled a laugh. They began to make their way down the hill, carefully finding the most stable pathway down. _"Before I fell,"_ the dark-haired teen explained when they made sure Chara had caught up with them. They gestured, once again, to the deteriorating, dark blue structure before them that barely resembled a building anymore. _"I got lost and ended up here."_

"When you climbed Mt. Ebott?" Chara asked, dumbfounded.

Frisk nodded as they ran their hands down the cracked wall, finding their way to an opening where a door must have once been. The outer edge was carved with floral accents, Chara noticed. A small bunch of yellow flowers were stuck in one of the cracks, swaying gently in the breeze. It almost seemed as if they had been purposefully stuck there and, once again, Chara's mouth pursed as they wondered why it seemed familiar.

"How long were you lost?" Flowey piped up as Chara followed Frisk into the dilapidated building.

_"I didn't have a phone so I couldn't tell. A month, maybe?"_ Once again, Chara and Flowey stared at them in shock.

"Frisk, wait a minute. You seriously lived in _this _for a _month_?" Chara gestured to the ruins around them. The building didn't even have a ceiling, or a right wall. Where there was tile beneath their feet, it was covered in dust and debris; where there wasn't, there were plants growing out of the exposed earth. Bushes full of wildberries poked through the holes, dappling the hallways like some sort of nature-themed obstacle course. As Chara stepped over a chunk of stone, they asked, "What did you even eat?"

_"The berries!"_ Frisk replied. Oh. Of course.

Chara shook their head. Frisk was always surprising them again and again. Suddenly, the other teen tapped their shoulder.

_"Help me look for alcove. It has a sign on it. It's what I wanted you to see, if it's still there,"_ Frisk signed nervously. They slid their hand back into Chara's, causing a small smile to tug on Chara's lips. It made them happy how Frisk always seemed to know exactly where their hand was.

"Sure," they hummed.

As they began navigating through the weathered building, Frisk began to explain what it was like living there for the month before they fell into the Underground.

_"There were signs here but I could never read them. They always fascinated me,"_ Frisk illustrated. _"After I fell into the Underground, I realized the reason I couldn't read these signs was because they're written in the monster's language."_

It was then that Chara caught a sign out of the corner of their eye. They guided Frisk over to it and began scrutinizing the writing. Unfortunately, even if it was written in the monster's language, it was a very, very old version of it. Chara could only pick out certain phrases, and even Flowey was having trouble with it.

Frisk didn't seem to mind. They signed with a smile, _"It's okay. Even if none of us can read them, there was always one sign that I could understand."_

The alcove. When Chara spotted it, the sense of familiarity overwhelmed them once again. It was a cavity cut into the wall, with a lone, pearly white sign embedded into the cobalt stone. Flowers were poking out of the cracks in the walls, but they had long since wilted brown.

Chara let Frisk approach it first. They placed their fingers over the sign, ignoring the incomprehensible symbols in favor of tracing over something small scribbled in the bottom left corner. Their lips upturned in a soft smile as they motioned for the other two to come over. Chara started, but stopped as Frisk began to sign something.

_"Close your eyes."_ Chara did.

They felt Frisk gently take their hand in their own. Their finger was on top of Chara's, guiding it to the smooth and dusty stone. Suddenly, they were both tracing a crude carving. It seemed to be done hastily, like with a knife, because the grooves were bumpy beneath their skin. But Chara could still obviously feel the word carved into the stone beneath their fingers.

Five letters.

Deep down, they already knew what it would say.

"It's my name," Chara breathed out, opening their eyes to see it. Everything came flooding back, as if someone had stuck a key in the rusty lock to their memories. They remembered the dagger, clutched in their young, trembling hands. They remembered etching their true name into the sign. They remembered it wasn't for a very happy reason. "I forgot... I came here before I fell, too. And I carved my name into this sign."

"WHAT?" Flowey blurted out. "What the hell?"

Chara laughed. "No wonder this place felt so familiar."

"Is this a prank? Or are you guys serious?" Flowey cried.

_"We're serious! We're serious!"_ Frisk signed repeatedly, tapping the rim of his pot reassuringly. Then, they turned back to Chara. _"So this really was your carving?"_

"Yeah," the red-eyed teen nodded, mystified by the whole situation. "It was so, so long ago, I can't believe it's still here…"

_"I always wondered if it was you or not."_ Frisk ran their hand through their hair; a happy, relieved smile across their face. Chara's heart fluttered. They didn't know if it was because of the fact that Frisk had found their name, or the fact that Frisk looked kind of adorable like that. Probably both.

_"You know the reason I climbed Mt. Ebott, don't you?"_ They suddenly signed. Chara blinked.

Yes, they knew the reason. And they knew that it was the most incredibly selfless reason in the world. And every time Chara thought about it, it still managed to blow their mind.

"You went to look for the people who disappeared," Chara whispered. It was a childish reason, sure, because the people who climbed Mt. Ebott went to disappear...forever. But Frisk was a child when they had made that decision, and it held the same sort of determination that they entered the Underground with. It was what drove them to help free the monsters. And it was what made Chara want to live again.

Chara's eyes flickered back to the name carved into the pure white stone as Frisk touched it gently. _"Ever since I found this name here, I was determined to find whoever it belonged to. And then,"_ they pointed at Chara, _"I did!"_ And then shot finger guns at them and everything.

Chara forgot how to breath. Their face flushed and they swore their heart was going to pound straight out of their chest. Their goddamn brother was staring directly at them with a _knowing _look, too. They shot him a glare, reminding themself that Frisk had always been flirty- _jokingly_. They flirted to make people smile and laugh. There was no serious intent behind it. So could Chara's face _please _stop being so, so red and could the weird "uhhhhhhh" please stop droning from their mouth?

There were so many things they wanted to say and, yet, they couldn't speak. The thoughts swarmed in their mind but their tongue was paralyzed, unable to move. Their brain had a tendency to just shut off when they were flustered- Oh no. _Oh no. _Now _Frisk _was flustered too; they could tell because their cheeks darkened as they signed a quick apology and a _"I didn't mean to make you uncomfortable."_

"NO! You didn't! It's just- I'm glad you found me," Chara stammered, a bit too loudly, voice cracking in the middle. Then they realized what they just blurted out and their face flushed a deeper shade of red.

_"I'm glad I did too,"_ Frisk replied, smiling warmly. _"Because I found Chara, I also got to meet all of the monsters in the Underground, my brothers,"_ then they turned to Flowey and signed, _"and Flowey, too!"_

"Ughhh, gross," Flowey groaned, rolling his eyes. He was smiling, though. Chara's grin grew wider.

All of a sudden, Frisk stepped close with their arms outstretched. Chara immediately knew what they meant and accepted the request, wrapping their arm around their best friend's shoulder and placing their brother's pot in between them. Frisk's arms encircled them in a warm, gentle hug. They all stood there like that in the old, ruined monster town. It would've been perfectly silent if not for the birds softly chirruping in the distance.

Chara knew Flowey didn't like to be touched, but he usually didn't mind being surrounded by the two of them in one of their 'best friend squad' hugs. That is, until his eye twitched and he suddenly burst out, "OKAY, no more hugs, please!" And they broke apart, immediately.

A chuckle bubbled out of Chara's lips as they placed his flowerpot on the ground. Then, they turned heel and dove right back into Frisk's arms for a second time.

They just wanted one more hug before the long trek home. That's all.

* * *

[The dog wonders if this still counts as a drabble... Either way, this chapter was made with lots of love. The little dog hopes you enjoyed reading. He also hopes you are interested in learning more about the kids and their pasts and current living situations, because he intends to reveal more in future chapters!]


End file.
